Where Black and White Collide
by VenderMalfoy
Summary: "How dare you leave a scare on me, Mudblood. If you think the magic belongs to you, take out your wand. I know you want to kill me now." At first, it was all an act. But now, Draco isn't so sure. (Draco/Hermione)
1. Alizarin Crimson

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Sadly:(

 **Where Black and White Collide**

 **1\. Alizarin Crimson**

...

Everyone has their own weakness. Whether that weakness is something that scares them to death or something that brings about a sad memory is not important. What _is_ important, in my opinion, is that there is no person in the world without a flaw, without a weakness.

I have always believed that weaknesses are not something that you should be ashamed of. I thought that admitting your weakness to everyone was the first step of overcoming it and overcoming a weakness meant progress and growth of oneself. Weaknesses were, therefore, like the dramatic years of adolescence, when a child goes through puberty. The process was long and difficult, but the result was outstanding: a better self.

It was amazing how everyone around me had grown to accept and realize their own weakness, telling those dark secrets to their friends and wanting to be consoled. It was amazing to watch my friends become "better" by those small talks and I was grateful to help them at all times. I could easily come up with a simple conclusion that admitting a weakness was something that required bravery. The bravery of Gryffindor.

But, sadly, I have to admit that I do not have that bravery. I have concealed my deepest weakness within me, not telling a soul to anyone, only thinking about it when I was alone in bed or perhaps in the bathroom.

Maybe, I wasn't brave after all.

Maybe, I just don't have the bravery in me. Maybe, I don't have the Gryffindor in me. Maybe the Sorting Hat made a mistake to put me in Gryffindor, when I was supposed to be in some other house- like Slytherin perhaps.

The house of Slytherin, where my deepest weakness is hidden.

* * *

"Hermione!" Harry yelled, with his small book bag hanging in an awkward position on his shoulder. Ron was by his side, as usual. "We have to hurry! We're going to be late for class!"

"Okay, just wait for me a bit. I have to find my paper!" Hermione yelled back at him.

Right now, Hermione Granger, a 6th grade student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was doomed. Doomed to hell, to be exact.

While chewing on her red, swollen lips, she frantically flipped over her tidied bed covers, threw her pillow over to the side, went down on her knees to look under the bed. She then ran over to the common room and to the small desk that she usually used and did the same thing- look under the desk, the chairs, and every single furniture that she thought she had used the night prior.

Gone. It was just gone.

Her Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment.

Poof.

She had worked so hard on that certain assignment, writing four more pages of parchment than assigned, as she spent hours and hours in the library looking for books that might help her. She had put her best efforts on the paper, on that specific potions assignment, but it simply disappeared.

Poof _._

Hermione had remembered that she put the paper inside her book bag. Yes, that was right. She had put the paper inside her book bag. But, this morning, when she woke up, the paper was gone. It was simply not there.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted again. "Are you done there yet? We're really running out of time, you see."

"Oh shit..." Hermione murmured to herself, as she busily worked with the small table next to her bed. "You guys can go ahead, I really have to find my assignment first." She shouted out to boys.

"Really?" Harry asked her from the common room. "Are you sure you're not going to come right now? If you're late Snape would get extremely mad."

"It's okay. Just go ahead. I know it's here somewhere." Hermione replied back, while she looked under her bed once again.

"Well... See you at class, Hermione." Harry replied as he made his way out the door.

"Bye, 'Mione." It was Ron this time. A few seconds later, Hermione heard the portrait close with a soft thud. As soon as she realized that she was alone in the Gryffindor dormitory, she felt the frustration and anger creeping up on her.

'Why on earth did I write _that_ on my assignment!' She thought to herself. 'How could I be so... careless! Why didn't I just flip the parchment before writing my bloody potions assignment there?'

Hermione heaved a sigh and sat down on the hard, carpeted floor.

'I bet the parchment has my name on it.' She thought.

"Oh god... I am doomed to hell!" She then shouted, on the top of her lungs.

* * *

"Mr. Potter, may I ask you where your friend Ms. Granger is?" Snape asked viciously.

"Um... She... She's probably in her room right now, Professor." Harry started.

"Because... she was sick." Ron quickly added.

"Right! She was so sick, a headache probably." Harry answered as he felt his glasses slowly sliding down his nose.

"She was too tired to move an inch, so obviously, she couldn't go to Madam Pomfrey. Sad, really." Ron said while fidgeting in his seat.

"I never asked anything to you, Mr. Weasley. Ten points from Gryffindor for speaking without permission." Snape barked at the two, eyeing them suspiciously. But, gladly, he didn't say anything else.

"Good thing it's just ten points, isn't it Harry? I was actually expecting about fifty to be lost when 'Mione couldn't make it." Ron quickly whispered into Harry's ear.

"Silence, Mr. Weasley!" Snape hollered, smacking Ron's head with the thick potions textbook. "Another ten points from Gryffindor." The whole class groaned at Snape's quick remarks.

"Slimey git, that Snape, if you ask me."

A few minutes later, the door of the classroom swung open and in entered a certain Hermione Granger who wasn't in her best mood.

"Ms. Granger, could you please tell us why you were late for class?" Snape asked her immediately, with his huge dark cape falling on his side. Harry and Ron was giving her horrified looks, scared of what she would say.

"I was um... My head hurt so much, Professor. I am extremely sorry, it won't happen again." Hermione quickly answered. As soon as she sat down next to her friends, she could easily point out the smug expressions that they were putting on their faces.

"Blimey, Hermione. Six years of friendship and you're starting to read our minds." Ron whispered into Hermione's ear.

"Silence, Mr. Weasley!" Snape shouted from the front of the class again.

* * *

"So, tell me Hermione. Why were you late for class? I mean, you aren't exactly the person who would make a mistake." Ron said to Hermione playfully.

"Just drop it, Ron." Hermione scowled at him. Her day wasn't going that well- she wanted to be alone.

"I am quite curious, Hermione. You know how great I am with keeping secrets." Ron continued to joke around. "Really, though, I still can't believe it. Hermione Granger, late for class? Impossible, if you ask me."

"I said, shut up Ron!" Hermione frowned at him.

"What? I-" But before Hermione could hear what Ron was going to tell her, she walked away from the two of her best friends, leaving them in the huge hallway.

"What just happened, Harry?" Ron asked rather timidly.

"I honestly don't know." Harry shrugged.

* * *

'God damn it...' Hermione thought to herself, while she walked swiftly towards the lake. She had been taking a walk around the school, to organize her thoughts (which were mostly about the paper that she had lost) in peace- away from, well... away from her friends.

'Why the hell did I lose the parchment?' She continued to think. 'I could have just put it inside my bag or... Uh! This is the worst scenario!'

The weather was wonderful, it truly was. October was a great month, with the great weather, Halloween and so much more, but Hermione didn't have any time to enjoy anything right now. She absolutely _had_ to find the paper, and she had to find it quick before anybody else reads it.

Not a lot of students were at the lake at this time of the day, and that was really why she loved it here. The peace was beautiful. Everything was quiet and she could just sit under a tree and think and think without being interrupted. She heaved a heavy sigh and trudged along the lake, staring at the ground when she saw something familiar in the distance.

Her paper.

Her very parchment that she had written on.

In the hands of... Draco Malfoy?

Hermione frowned immediately and gasped a breath. She continued to glare at him, trying to make out his facial expression while she hid herself behind a bushy tree. She squinted her eyes and gasped another breath when she saw him smirk.

He was smirking while looking at the paper. The so called "Malfoy" smirk.

Then, out of pure instinct, Hermione ran towards him, who was still sitting under a tree while reading the paper, and reached out to grab her paper.

"This is mine, you sneaky git!" Hermione screamed.

"What the fuck, Granger!" Draco leaped up from his seat and quickly hid the paper behind him.

"How dare you steal my DADA assignment, Malfoy! Give it back!" She hollered at the top of her lungs, wishing that he hadn't seen _that._

 _"Your_ assignment? I have no idea what you're talking about but this thing that you tried to take is strictly mine." Draco glared at Hermione with his piercing grey eyes. "I never stole any of your fucking things, Granger."

"Stop lying you bastard. I know it's mine! Give it back!" Hermione jumped up to reach out for the paper, but sadly their height difference made it close to impossible to do so.

"No! Are you fucking mental? Get the hell away from me, you bitch!" Draco screamed, his eyes full of shock. He quickly gathered up his things from the floor and started to walk away.

"Oh no, don't you _dare_ walk away, Malfoy. I hate your presence surely enough, but I'm not leaving until you give me my paper." Hermione hissed at him. Draco then suddenly turned around, put on a dangerous smirk on his lips (while managing to glare at Hermione). He slowly took out the piece of parchment that he was looking at and started to read it again.

"What part of this fucking piece of paper, are you so interested, Granger?" He asked cockily. "Even though I am pretty sure this is mine-" He flipped the page over.

"No!" Hermione screamed out. She reached out her arms to stop him from reading what would be written on the other side of the parchment.

"How dare you." He growled threateningly. Hermione took a step back immediately and looked over at Draco. He had a finger on his palm, as if he was trying to stop something was coming out, and his look was full of venom. He then took off the finger that he was pressing onto his face and stared at his thumb.

Blood.

A clear speck of red blood was on the tip of finger.

Hermione, startled, stared at the blood that was placed on his thumb and stared up at his face. Not surprisingly, there was an small, but evident scratch on his face. A red scratch. Definitely newly-made.

"How DARE you leave a scratch on me, you Mudblood?" Draco yelled. "How dare you touch me with you filthy hands!"

"It's-It's only a small s-scratch, Malfoy. Just get over it." Hermione yelled back. Her voice was trembling, though.

" _Just_ a small scratch? Is that what you call this, Mudblood?" He seethed. He started to pant deep breaths.

"I mean-" Hermione started.

Just then, Draco took out his wand from his pocket and pointed it at Hermione's neck.

"You wouldn't." Hermione whispered.

...

* * *

 **This is a multi-chaptered fic. The start of the story seemed light, yes, but I can assure you guys that this story is not that "light" and "happy".**

 **The process of Dramione will be slow. And when I say slow, it will be reeally slow. I hate it when Draco and Hermione suddenly fall in love :)**

 **This fic is extremely important to me, so please read the further chapters as well.. Please?:)**

 **Thank you for reading and reviews are always welcome!**


	2. Royal Blue

A/N: I am incredibly sorry for the confusion of the story. My laptop went crazy and when I logged in a few hours later and what I had uploaded was gone. (and it had two wonderful reviews but I lost them boohoo) Just like how Hermione lost her paper in the story :( But anyway, thank you for reading and please review!

Disclaimer: Check the cover of the book and you'll see clearly that it doesn't have my name on it. ;)

* * *

 **Where Black and White Collide**

 **2\. Royal Blue**

"You wouldn't.." Hermione whispered.

"Oh, yes I would, you filthy Mudblood. If you think the magic belongs to you, well... take out your fucking wand. No one is here to look, Granger. I know you'd want to." He threatened.

Malfoy's wand started to make its way up and up Hermione's neck, moving swiftly along her jawline. Hermione felt her breath hitch. Shivers ran down her spine.

The wand then started to press onto her neck, slowly but with force. Malfoy shoved Hermione strongly, causing her to be leaning against the tree that Malfoy was sitting underneath a few minutes before. The scratchy tree bark tickled her back. She felt Malfoy's breath on her neck.

Hermione tried to get out of his grasp by turning her head the other way, but he was much more stronger than her. He was now holding onto her wrist with his other hand, squeezed her daint arm with all of his her hands to turn into a bright Alizarin Crimson. Her red hands and his white, pale hands met and emerged and it was an indeed an eerie sight. Nevertheless, Malfoy continued to push his wand into her neck.

"Stop it you git! I-It hurts..." Hermione whimpered. Her voice cracked heavily.

"Do you think I give a fuck, Mudblood? Whether you get hurt-" Malfoy whispered harshly. He had a sinister smile placed among his lips.

But, suddenly, his smile faltered.

Hermione quickly turned her head a little bit more, allowing her to have a full view of his face. Which surprised her greatly, because instead of holding her back to stop her from moving, he simply let go.

She frowned and looked over at Malfoy while clucthing onto her sore wrist. His wand was now not on her neck; Hermione realized then that Malfoy had dropped it.

She quickly looked up and met his eyes. His eyes, which were usually flowing with venom, were empty. No, (Hermione blinked twice, to check if she had spotted correctly) his eyes were full of terror and anxiety. Terror and anxiety.

Hermione dropped her gaze, only to notice that Malfoy's hands were trembling. Truth be told, his whole bdy seemed to shake.

"What-" Hermione started to speak as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Don't." Malfoy spat out, his eyes still wide and full of those weak emotions. With his shaking hands, he picked up the wand from the ground, calmed his robes and stomped away.

Hermione was left alone with nothing but a dirtied school uniform. She carefully tidied her clothes and stepped away from the tree.

She still didn't get her paper back.

Shit.

* * *

I am scared. Maybe, the word scared isn't enough. Maybe I need a bigger word to explain my fear. But, I can't. My brain isn't functioning properly because of the fear.

Overcoming fear, like overcoming weaknesses, is magical. But, sadly, that I hate that magical process.

I'm scared. I think, that my weakness that I've hidden from everyone for the past year or so would be known by everyone. Including _him._

 _He_ hates me right now, for being a Mudblood and all of that shit but if he figures out about my weakness, we would be... he would kill me.

I'm terrified.

* * *

Hermione Granger heaved a heavy sigh and walked along the long aisles of the Hogwarts library, her favorite place in the school. The whole place smelled like books and parchment and she simply loved it.

'Yesterday was a mess, it really was.' Hermione thought as she ran her fingers over a think book. She grimaced as she thought of her unwanted encounter with Malfoy and shook her head.

A few minutes later, she chose all of her books that she needed for reference and she chose a comfortable seat in the corner of the huge library and settled down. Everything was calm and quiet, the way that she preferred things to be. Without anyone's interruptions. Even without Harry and Ron.

She quickly took out her piece of parchment from her bag, tied her hair in a loose bun, and started to write.

"Fuck..." She heard somebody whisper in front of her. While frowning, Hermione slowly raised her head, only to realize that Malfoy was standing there, with a huge scowl on his face. Their eyes met only for a short second.

Hermione shook her head and continued to write her essay.

However, she couldn't get rid of the feeling that somebody was watching her. No, to put it correctly, she couldn't get rid of the feeling that somebody was glaring at her. Glaring seemed like a better word. She tried to focus on her assignment, but sadly concentrating wasn't that easy, knowing that somebody was giving you looks that could kill. And Draco Malfoy had that very look on his face.

Hermione sighed once again and turned her eyes away from the paper and looked ahead. Draco Malfoy was sitting there, exactly in front of her, with nothing but two large tables in between them. Their eyes met once again, but this time it lasted much longer. Frustrated at his continuous look, Hermione's glare faltered and she stared back at her parchment. But, she knew for a fact that Malfoy was still looking at her.

Hermione frowned and determinedly, stared at Draco, again. She squinted while doing so, to check if there was a small scar on his cheek, but there wasn't anything on his pale skin.

Exhausted by his continuous glare, Hermione stood up and walked out of the library with a frustrated look on her face.

"Damn that ferret..." Hermione muttered to herself as she walked along the corridors.

* * *

I know that I'm not supposed to do this: writing in this bloody notebook about _him_ and only _him,_ but I have to say this. His eyes are glassy and grey, they almost look as if they're silver. They remind me of almonds. Silver almonds, to be exact.

I have always loved almonds from when I was young. A great snack, almonds.

God, I really should stop this nonsense.

* * *

Hermione played with her hair, while staring at the poles of her four-poster bed. She soon figured out easily that staring at her bed wasn't the best activity that she could do on a perfectly fine Saturday afternoon, and after realizing this quick fact, she jumped off of her bed and went down to the common room- only to find Harry and Ron in the corner playing wizarding chess, again.

"Really, don't you guys ever get tired of that stupid game?" Hermione asked with a skeptical look on her face. She propped herself on a comfy coach and hugged a huge cushion for comfort as she continued to stare at the game that her friends were playing.

"Never." Harry and Ron replied simultaneously.

"Oh, come on. I bet you have better things to do than _this_." She replied.

"Nope." They answered again, without even giving her a short glance.

"Boys..." Hermione muttered as she walked away from them.

Once back in the girl's dormitory, Hermione sat on her bed again and heaved a heavy sigh. She was tired. She had many emotions playing about inside her, but really, she was tired. Tired of having to play "joyful" all the time. Tired of having to act all the time. Tired of, sometimes, her own friends.

But most of all, she was tired of Malfoy.

Somehow, she knew that the parchment that Malfoy was looking at was _her_ parchment. She just had this gut feeling. However, she couldn't just go barging towards him and demand her paper back like yesterday. Malfoy was much taller than her, stronger than her, and quicker than her which clearly meant that she couldn't simply "steal" it from him.

Hermione unconsciously rubbed her wrist, that was still sore because of what happened yesterday.

'Damn that ferret...' She thought again, as she leaned her head against the wall.

* * *

Draco scratched his arm, rather fervidly.

"Fuck the stupid bug. No idea when it bit me."He thought to himself while scratching his arm again. He was right now, up on the Astronomy Tower, looking down at the ground while leaning against the railing. The cool wind played with his hair, it was a great feeling. He scratched his arm again. 'Fuck..'

Nothing special was happening. Which clearly meant that Draco Malfoy was bored. He was bored to hell. He was never a person who stayed in one place in one position that long. He had this need, this want to move around, but on a tedious Saturday afternoon, there was simply nothing that he could do.

Draco sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall and took out his wand from his robe pocket.

"Lumos." He said. A great flashing light appeared at the tip of his wand, making the already-bright morning even brighter.

"Nox." He said again, causing the light to disappear.

"Lumos."

"Nox."

Draco repeated this process on and on, squinting from time to time because of the bright light, while scratching his arm. A few minutes later, he grew tired of this "game" of his and stopped immediately. He just stayed in the Tower, sitting down, doing nothing but moving his hand up and down his arm.

"Fuck.." Draco whispered to himself when he realized that his arm was bleeding. A tiny dollop of blood had oozed out of his arm. A clear red blood. He quickly used his finger to wipe the blood away from his arm and stared at it.

Blood.

Like the tiny droplet of blood that came out of his cheek the day prior, because of a certain bushy-haired Mudblood.

Draco scoffed at the thought of her. How she came up to him, roaring with anger and fury as she tried her best to snatch the parchment out of his hands. How she glared at him so viciously early in the morning in the library. How she looked so weak... so vulnerable, when he threatened her with his deadly look.

Draco stared at the Dark Mark on his other arm.

'Fucking Voldemort and his minions...' he thought to himselfnwhile massaging his aching head.

 _She_ would be there. She would be there, beneath him, trying so hard to breathe as Draco himself squeezed her long, beautiful neck. _She_ would be there, with her body trembling with pain as Draco himself blasted the Cruciatus curse on and on. _She_ would be there, crying for mercy, crying for help-whimpering and whispering his name.

"M-Malfoy..." She would say.

"Hermione Granger..." He muttered quietly, suddenly awakening from his thoughts.

After a few moments, he sighed and walked out of the Astronomy Tower.

* * *

Hermione Granger heaved a sigh and walked over to the lake and sat down on a cold rock. The water was extremely still.

She clutched onto the purple sweater that she was wearing and massaged her wrist, still sore because of yesterday's fight. She had to find her parchment-she really did- but she wasn't sure how she would be able to find her precious piece of paper.

"Fuck..." She whispered as she snuggled into her arms.

"My my Granger. Never thought you would curse." She heard a voice from her behind. A rustle of leaves. A rush of wind.

Hermione knew who it was at once, but she just snuggled into her arms again and didn't turn around.

"I know that you heard me, Granger."

Undoubtedly, it was the git. Draco Malfoy.

* * *

 **This is the second chapter of the story!**

 **I know that some of you might have noticed, but the names of the chapters are interesting names of colors. Alizarin Crimson, Royal Blue and so on. Beautiful names, really, in my opinion.**

 **Thank you for reading. This chapter was fun to write :)** **Especially the scene where Draco and Hermione fought.**

 **I have to mention again, the process of them falling in love will be slow. ;)**

 **P.S. Yesterday, I dreamed that I was brushing my teeth which is a weird dream if you ask me.**


	3. Saddle Brown

**A/N: A quick author's note before starting the story: I realized that my toothbrush was missing the next day. Weird.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Sadly :(**

* * *

 **Where Black and White Collide**

 **3\. Saddle Brown**

...

"I know that you heard me, Granger."

Undoutedly, it was the git. Draco Malfoy.

Hermione glanced at him slightly and with a huge frown on her face, she stood up and started to walk away from him. However, sadly, she soon realized that she couldn't because the git had caught her wrist again. Hermione flinched at the sudden contact.

"Walking away from me, Granger?" He asked with a sly smirk on his face. Hermione simply glared at him and stared back at her wrist, as a sign telling Malfoy to let her go. Malfoy, however, didn't let go. "I thought we had an important conversation with each other."

"Let go of me, you git." Hermione seethed.

"Really Granger, is that all you can say? Honestly, "git" is the only word that you said to me in the past few days." He replied, still clutching onto her wrist. But, this time, Malfoy wasn't "strangling" her wrist. It was a simply just a way of making sure that Hermione wouldn't barge away. The touch was, amazingly, soft compared to what had happened the day before.

Hermione glared at the boy in front of her and she slowly put her hand inside her back pocket, where her wand was. Just when she had a firm grip of her wand, Malfoy's smirk had widened, making Hermione frown.

"A wand, Granger?" He asked. "Please, I'm just trying to talk."

He then loosened his grip and put both of his hands up in the air to show that he had no other intention.

'What the hell is wrong with him?' Hermione wondered to herself. She then continued to stare at Malfoy, without taking out her hand from her pocket. After a few seconds, Malfoy put his hand down again and reached out to hold Hermione's wrist.

No, she was mistaken.

Malfoy held onto her wrist, carefully, but then he slowly trailed his hand down her beautiful arm until he was holding onto her hand. With a startled look, Hermione glanced down at their hands, intertwined, and raised her glance up to look over at Malfoy. Surprisingly, Malfoy was _smiling._ Not smirking, not sneering, not anything, but he was smiling. A real, genuine smile.

"Look, Granger-" Malfoy started to speak, still holding onto her hand.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Hermione frowned at him. But, she didn't try to take her hand away from him. She stayed there, with her hand completely covered by his, while she kept on staring at Malfoy's smile.

But, something triggered inside of her.

Rage.

She quickly yanked her hand away from the blond haired boy with an annoying look on her face and stepped back a little bit. A few leaves crunched under her feet.

"You shouldn't do that, Malfoy. I'll contaminate you're pure self with my Mudblood germs. I can't let that happen, now can I?" She spat at him and after her short refute, she turned around and walked away.

But as she walked away, even Hermione Granger herself couldn't ignore the fact that her heart was beating fast. Extremely fast.

* * *

In contrast to common belief, his hands are extremely warm.

Damn, I should have waited to listen to what he was going to say. Well played, Hermione, well played indeed.

* * *

Draco walked up the steps of the Astronomy Tower again. The steps seemed higher this time, as he trudged along while holding onto the railing.

"Failed..." He muttered out. He then flew himself onto the floor and sat down with a loud thud.

"Fucking failed.." He retorted again, his thoughts revolving around Granger. The green sweater that she was wearing was indeed a surprising look, because Draco never thought that Granger would happily choose green as the color of the day. Never. He smirked at the thought of it.

Her hand was amazingly, cold.

Maybe, she stayed outside for a long time.

"Fucking Granger.." Draco muttered yet again, as he rolled up his sleeve to scratch his arm. Scratching the tiny bug bite was ecstatically blissful.

After a few minutes, Draco then ran down the staircase again, with a proud smirk on his face.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by quickly, without any more encounters of Granger.

"Ginny?" Hermione called out, in search of her friend. Sunday morning. Ginny had promised that she would visit the library after breakfast, but she wasn't in the common room.

'Where did she go?' Hermione thought to herself as she swiftly walked along the corridors. Being a typical Sunday, there wasn't anything special to do and of course, being the typical Hermione, she headed towards the library, without Ginny.

While walking, her thoughts naturally drifted over to her constant worry: her parchment.

Two days had passed since she had lost it and Hermione was interestingly, feeling okay. Although she knew for a fact that Malfoy owned the parchment right now, there wasn't any way to prove it and most importantly, seeing him would be extremely awkward. That was the exact reason why she came up with a clear conclusion: Don't think about Draco Malfoy and let the secret be revealed. It was a hard decision to make, but that was what she had thought of after four hours of rolling around in her bed thinking the day prior.

She knew that her secret would be known, someday. _This_ was just another way of telling everyone about her, well.. her feelings towards Malfoy.

Hermione immediately felt heat rising up on her cheeks as she pictured her hands intertwined in his.

'Don't, Hermione. Don't think about him. At least not now.' She made a mental note to herself as she heaved a heavy sigh. She then imagined what Harry and Ron would say when the secret was revealed. She instantly felt extremely scared, at the possibility of losing her loving friends, and she also felt sorry.

But, really, fancying someone isn't something that could be controlled.

"Fucking Malfoy.." Hermione murmured as she trailed her hands along the dusty bookcases.

"My, Granger. What did I tell you about cursing?" Hermione flinched at the sudden voice and she casually pretended as if nothing had happened. She bit her lip as she walked away from the voice as quickly as possible. But, footsteps followed her.

"Granger-"

"Don't." Hermione spat out, still not looking over at Malfoy, her voice cracking a bit. Protectively, she hid her hands in her pocket. She decided to turn around when she heard a loud chortle.

With a startled look, Hermione turned around and stared at Malfoy, still hiding her hands protectively.

"Your hands are perfectly safe, don't worry." He smirked. "Or maybe, if you want me to hold them for you, I can-"

Hermione stared at the boy in front of her with wide eyes as he slowly made his way towards her. His long arms reached out for her wrist. Ever so carefully, he took her hand out of her pocket and even though Hermione tried to resist by taking small steps back, she couldn't as she soon realized she was backed up against a wall. Malfoy's hand made its way down to her wrist and she soon allowed Malfoy to touch her. She glanced over at him, who was surprisingly smiling that genuine smile, and she couldn't help but smile herself.

"Wha-What are you-"

"Shh.."Malfoy replied back, smiling.

Hermione felt her blush. Terribly. The hand that was holding onto her fingers was now trailing up and up her arm.

Hermione's breath started to hitch as his hand climbed higher and higher, up to her jawline. His touch was beautiful.

Then, ever so slowly, Malfoy leaned in so that their foreheads would touch as he placed his hand on her cheek.

"Mal-" She started. But she couldn't finish her sentence as she immediately felt a searing pain on her cheek. Mortified, Hermione raised her hand and touched her face and grimaced. Her cheek was burning, but not because of her blush. Malfoy had slapped her.

"Naive, aren't we, Granger?" Malfoy replied with a deathly smirk. His delicate hand that had been on her hand a few seconds ago was now throttling her neck again, much more forceful than last time. His smirk had spread wider and wider across his face, giving a devilish look.

No matter how much Hermione resisted, Malfoy took out his wand from his pocket and with a soft murmur, he casted a _Silencio_ on Hermione. The force on her neck was becoming stronger and stronger and now she was finding it hard to breathe. She began to claw at the boy in front of her with her fingers as she was backed up against a wall but, sadly, he was way out of her reach.

Hermione hung her head down and used her long curls to hide her face as they scrunched up in pain.

'Let go of me you damned ferret.' She mouthed at Malfoy between coughs.

Then Malfoy's smirk began to grow larger as he opened his mouth slowly to speak.

"Now, listen to me, Mudblood." He started in a low whisper. "I believe we have some business left to attend to."

"I have a feeling, Mudblood, that you do not quite understand the... social hierarchy of the wizarding world yet. And today, I am going to teach that to you, as your dear... _f_ _riend."_ His smirk widened and he dropped his hands. Hermione began to gasp in huge amounts of air and began to rub her sore neck. Then, she raised her glance and charged over at Malfoy with a huge glare on her face.

She had never felt so... humiliated all her life.

She stomped over at Malfoy and lifted her hand up to hit Malfoy, but couldn't. The damned idiot had caught her, again.

"Trying to hit me, Mudblood?" Malfoy looked down at Hermione while smiling. But this time, the smile was not "genuine" this time. It was full of lies and disgust, and Malfoy wasn't trying to hide his emotions.

Disgust.

'Get away, you filthy git!' Hermione mouthed at him again and while glaring up at him, she slid her hand down to her pocket to take out her wand. However, she soon noticed that her wand was gone.

Startled, Hermione glanced up at Malfoy again with a huge frown on his face, only to realize that he was staring back at her with a huge smirk, holding her wand with his other hand.

"Slow... slow..." Malfoy tucked her wand inside his pocket, out of her reach and began to whisper again.

"Now, listen carefully, Granger. In this wizarding world, there are a lot of witches and wizards- good and bad. But the important thing is that, it is does not matter whether you take the "good" side or the "bad" side. The really important thing, my dear, is about who you are."

"You, Granger, are a Mudblood." Hermione glared over at Malfoy and tried to get away from him, but she was again shoved against the wall. "A filthy Mudblood, in fact. And Mudbloods are nothing. Surely, you would be able to understand, being the brightest witch of the year." He asked Granger with a sly grin.

"Mudbloods are nothing, Granger. They can't even be classified. They don't even belong in the hierarchy, in my opinion." Malfoy's wand began to trail along her jawline.

"Anomalies. Mudbloods aren't human, Granger. They're disgusting, vile, soulless creatures without the right mind and yes, I do believe that they must be wiped out of our world. You are an Anomaly, Granger. You weren't meant to be born. Purebloods always hated Mudbloods, my dear, and they will soon be gone from our world. "

She felt her heart itch. She balled her hands into a fist and although she was aware that her breath sounded harsh and ragged, she didn't care. Fury was running through her blood. Her heart continued to itch.

She started to see red.

"I have to say, Granger, that one day you'll be gone. When Voldemort gains more power Granger, you'll be gone for good and I can guarantee that I will be the first one to visit your grave. I'll conjure a few flowers, place them on top of the soil and laugh at you for being nothing but an anomaly. A mutation, in fact." Malfoy smiled at her.

Hermione had so many things that she wanted to scream over at Malfoy as she felt her body tremble with rage.

"So, don't you dare, Mudblood, touch me again or I would really, kill you here. At Hogwarts. I'll be damned if someone actually cared about your death."

With that, he left.

He left Hermione there, in between the bookshelves of the huge Hogwarts library.

Hermione felt her body droop and the next moment, she realized that she was lying on the floor, crying her heart out. Gladly, the _Silencio_ had been countered.

* * *

"Hermione! Where have you been?" Ginny asked in a hurry, as she ran towards her friend. "What.. what happened to you?" Ginny Weasley was always good at reading someone else's emotions and the moment she laid her eyes on Hermione, she knew that something had happened to her.

Tear stains.

"It's.. It's nothing, Ginny. Really." Hermione murmured as they walked towards the Gryffindor dormitory together. Ginny frowned, but didn't say anything.

'Damn you, Zabini.' Ginny thought, her mind fuzzing with worry.

...

* * *

 **I never gave much thought to the pairing [Ginny/Blaise] (because Dramione was all I actually cared about) but my friend insisted that my first fic should include small doses of Blinny. I'm not sure how it would turn out, maybe I would write it, maybe I wouldn't later on, but well I'm going to give it a try!**

 **To the wonderful reviews, Uknw120 and Ailac Malfoy, thank you! You guys made my day!**

 **Thank you for reading and please, reviews are always welcome! ;)**


	4. Lavender Blush

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The only thing that I own is the plot.**

* * *

 **Where Black and White Collide**

 **4\. Lavender Blush**

 **...**

Hermione's wand came back the next day by owl post, when she was sitting in the Great Hall nibbling a blueberry scone for breakfast. She wasn't even aware that she had lost her wand, falling asleep as soon as she came back from the library the other day, but as soon as she looked down at her wand, she remembered. Draco Malfoy took her wand yesterday during their fight and he slapped her, straight across her face.

"A wand?" Harry asked. "Whose is it?"

Ron reached out from the other side of the table and glanced at the wand.

"Huh? Isn't this yours, Hermione?" Ron said with a curious look on his face. He handed her the wand that he was looking at to Hermione again.

"Yes. It is mine." Hermione admitted.

"Why did you get it by owl post then?" Harry inquired, while spreading butter all over his toast. "Did you lose it?"

"Something like t-that, I guess." Hermione whispered. She stared down at her plate. She had suddenly lost her appetite. As she twirled between her fingers, she raised her head up slightly and realized right away that Draco Malfoy was staring at her from across the table. Shivers ran down her spine.

She suddenly felt nauseous.

"I-I've got to go..." Hermione whispered as she stood up quickly and walked out of the Great Hall.

* * *

"Ms. Granger!" Snape hollered for the fourth time.

"Y-yes, Professor?" Hermione stuttered again, blushing terribly. Several eyes turned her way and stared. Unfortunately, one of those eyes included the ones that belonged to Malfoy, as the Gryffindors were having class with the Slytherins right now. As soon as Hermione noticed Malfoy's gaze, she immediately stared down at her hands, not glancing up at the professor who was glaring down at her.

"This is the fourth time, Ms. Granger! Did you even listen to what I was talking about?" Snape yelled again. Hermione flinched.

"I'm...I-I'm extremely sorry, Professor. I'm not in the right mind today.. I think." She whispered quietly. She soon raised her head to look up at the man in front of her, but somehow when she did so, her eyes rested on the pale git himself.

His eyes were cold.

Hermione shivered immediately and she felt a sting on her nose, telling her that the tears were coming.

"Ms. Granger!" Snape shouted again. "Answer the question!"

"Wh-What question, sir?" Hermione answered with a quiet voice. She didn't hear Snape say anything to her.

"Detention, Ms. Granger! Not paying attention in class, don't know what you're thinking! I'll see you at my office, at 9 o'clock sharp." He seethed.

"Ye..Yes, Professor." Hermione murmured back, her voice trembling. She closed her eyes. Big droplets of tears fell out of her eyes and soon landed on her new piece of parchment. New, because Hermione didn't take any notes during class. She simply couldn't. Snape resumed the class as if nothing had happened.

"Are you okay, 'Mione?" Ron asked quietly.

"Yes... I-I'm fine, Ron." Ron put his hand on top of hers, which was rested on her lap, gave a tight squeeze. But, sadly, Hermione couldn't smile at the friendly gesture.

* * *

Draco climbed up the spiral staircase of the Astronomy Tower.

The Astronomy Tower was his favorite place in the school and just being there made him relax and smile, but somehow Draco couldn't smile this time.

"I... I hit her." Draco whispered. "I sl-slapped her.." He groaned and hung his head.

"I fucking slapped her!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Draco panted heavily.

His voice echoed.

* * *

"Zabini!"

"Yes, love?"

"Shh! How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that in public? Just call me Weaselette like you used to before... before any of this happened!"

"What did you say, my love?"

"Shut up! Someone might hear!"

"Nope. Muffliato."

"Well...Someone might see us together!"

"This is an abandoned classroom, no one ever comes in. Plus, it's 10 a.m., the students are in their classrooms. _We_ are the bad ones."

"God! Do you always have an answer to everything, Zabini?"

"Yes, I do. And please, stop calling me Zabini, love."

"Whatever, Zabini."

"So, why did you call me out here when we're supposed to be in class, love? Wanted to see me that much? Another snog session, maybe?"

"Oh, do shut up. There's something I need to ask you. It's urgent."

"I know what you're trying to ask me, Ginny but you know I can't tell you."

"Please, Blaise?"

"I-I can't... You know I can't, Ginny."

"But she's my friend! I can't see her like that, so hurt."

"..."

"Please, Blaise. Tell me. It's important."

* * *

"Ms. Granger." Snape said as Hermione entered the professor's office.

"Professor Snape," She replied, nodding politely. "I'm here for detention."

Snape nodded slowly and motioned her to follow him. Hermione did as she was told. She walked across his office, with the professor in front of her and she couldn't help but notice that there were so many potions there. Sure, he was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher now, but having been a professor for Potions for so long, those mysterious liquids were stacked up against the wall in transparent vials.

Suddenly, Snape stopped walking and he opened a large door. Hermione slowly walked inside the room.

Inside the room, there were cauldrons. Cauldrons everywhere.

"Please, Ms. Granger. Scrub these cauldrons nice and clean. Without magic."

Hermione bit back a groan and when the professor left the room, she heaved a heavy sigh and slid down onto the floor. There were so many damned cauldrons in the room- it would absolutely take forever to clean them all. She grimaced as she pictured the disgusting things that could be found inside the cauldrons.

'Damn.' She thought to herself.

'Damn these stupid cauldrons. Damn Snape.' She then walked over to the other side of the room. There was a small wooden table there, but no chairs. She picked up a tiny rag from the table and sighed. 'But I guess I have no damned choice.'

Time flew by- no, wait. Time didn't fly at all. It dragged heavily. Although she was absolutely sure that an hour passed, she soon realized that only 20 minutes had gone.

But then, she heard a change.

The door of the professor's office swung open and Hermione could hear footsteps.

"Ah, Draco." Snape started. "What brings you here, at this time?"

Hermione unconsciously dropped the rag that she was holding and she felt her heart beating faster and faster. The blood inside of her body raced with great speed as she realized that Malfoy was near her.

Her body burned with rage and anger.

"It's _her,_ Professor." Malfoy's voice resonated the office.

Hermione slowly walked towards the door of the small room that she was staying in and gulped. Her hands trembled.

Silence filled the office, Hermione could easily notice.

"Draco, we've... we've talked about this. And you know my answer as well. Why did you come here again?" Snape then answered, his voice much lower and much more serious. "You can't, Draco. You know you can't."

"Something happened, Professor. Between us." Malfoy replied.

'Her?' Hermione frowned as she leaned in closer to the door. It was a good thing that she left it slightly open when coming in.

"Draco-"

"Don't Draco me, Professor. I'm.. I'm serious here!" Draco screamed out.

"Well.. Fine. Tell me, what happened this time?" Snape replied. From the tone of his voice, it was easy to recognize that Snape was glaring down at Malfoy.

"I... I feel so weak, sir. When I'm with her."

Silence visited the office yet again.

"I'm supposed to hate her, you know. I'm supposed to... h-hate her with all of my will. All of my soul. But I can't." Malfoy's voice trembled. "I j-just can't."

"Draco-"

"I was taught from when I was a young child, Professor, that _her_ kind is.. is all scum and garbage. I learned and... I fucking accepted-"

"Language, Draco." Even though Hermione couldn't see them talking to each other, she could easily imagine that Malfoy would probably be glaring at the man in front of him. Her heart raced.

"I fucking accepted the fact that she was inferior to me. I.. I called her a Mudblood when we were in second grade! In second grade!" Malfoy screamed again.

Hermione gasped quietly. Something didn't feel right.

"I... learned that they are anomalies... Mutations, even. i learned that they weren't human, professor. And I believed it!"

"You were young at the time, Draco, like you said. Anyone would have believed it."

"I hit her yesterday, sir." Malfoy whispered suddenly. "In the library. I fucking followed her, Silencioed her, took her wand and... I just slapped her face."

Hermione slid down to the floor, trembling. She covered her mouth with her oily hands, to smother the cries that were coming out, but she couldn't. Malfoy was talking about her. And from what he was saying, he didn't _hate_ her.

"I can't believe I did that, Professor. I can't believe I slapped her! Fuck.. What would she think of me? I.." Malfoy started to pant. "I.. I saw her face when I hit her. Mortified. Shocked. Mad. But what I really saw was horror. S-She was scared... and I didn't.. I didn't give a fuck."

"She looked so alive. So _real_. She looked human."

"Draco... You're not supposed to. You know that."

"Why! Because I'm a fucking Slytherin? Because I'm a pureblood? A Malfoy? You know I don't give a fuck about that Death Eater bullshit." Malfoy screeched, his voice trembling. "Well, Professor? What's the reason! Why! Why do I have to hide and conceal everything? Why do I have to hide my fucking emotions all the time? Why do I have to pretend as if I hate her? Why do I have to put up an act and deceive everyone, professor? Why do I have to deceive her?"

"Is it that impossible for a pureblood to love a muggle-born?" Malfoy whispered. "Why, Professor! Answer me!" He screamed out loud.

"Draco.. This is not the best time to talk about _this_ matter... Just go to your room-"

"Lily Evans, wasn't it? Potter's mother."

"How-"

"She's my Lily, Professor. Please.. just please understand."

Malfoy walked out after that. The door of the office closed with a loud thud.

Snape heaved a heavy sigh.

And Hermione started to cry.

* * *

"I can't tell you everything today, Ginny."

"One by one, then?"

"One by one, indeed."

"It's a deal, Zabini."

* * *

 **The fourth chapter! A bit shorter than usual, I hope it's enough...? I promise to write more next time.:(**

 **Thank you for reading and reviews are welcome!**


	5. Eburnean

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The only thing I own here is the plot.**

 **A/N: Okay. Today, I was going through the chapters that I had uploaded but I sadly realized that there aren't many descriptions at all. Some descriptions are necessary for the further chapters, but I didn't include what I had to. The problem isn't _that_ serious, but I was thinking: Should I write the chapters again? I _could_ just continue writing on but I was curious of what you guys would think. I'll come up with a decision sooner or later! In the meanwhile please enjoy the story;)**

 **Where Black and White Collide**

 **5.** **Eburnean**

 **...**

* * *

"So there's this parchment, Ginny."

"Parchment? What are you talking about, Zabini?"

"Just listen on. There.. I found this parchment the other day, when I was walking along the corridors and I.. well, I picked it up. It was an assignment for Defense Against the Dark Arts class and-"

"Just get to the point, Zabini."

"This is an important detail, Weasley. Just shut up and listen."

"So, there was a parchment. Wow. What happened next, darling?"

"Did you just call me darling?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't. Just go on."

"Whatever, love. So.. the parchment, yes. The parchment belonged to Granger."

"What?"

"I know. You would probably be thinking: Hermione doesn't drop her assignments on the floor, Zabini! I know that too. But, I just found the paper there, lying on the floor. I was simply curious and I picked it up, so don't ask me any more questions about it. Got it?"

"Whatever. Continue please."

"The parchment had a large name written on it- that was how I easily noticed that it belonged to Granger. I started to read what she had written, but it was an _assignment_. Of course it was boring."

"You don't really have to tell me what you felt every second while reading the bloody damed parchment, Zabini."

"Shut up, love. So.. where was I? Oh right. I thought what she had written was absolutely boring, so I was about to put it back on the floor as if nothing had happened."

"What? That is -I've got to admit- h-hilarious, Zabini! You were going to p-put it back on the f-floor?"

"Quit laughing! You're interrupting every fucking second!"

"Go on then."

"Right. So as I tried to get rid of the paper, I realized that she had written something on the back of the parchment."

"On the back? Are you sure? Hermione never does that. She always uses her paper one-sided. Because of possible ink blots, she says. Though there aren't any."

"Yes, I am sure. She wrote on the back of her _assignment._ But the thing is, her writing on the back of the parchment was much more _slanted._ Which was quite a shock being slanted and dirty writing doesn't fit Hermione Granger, right? But what she had written was more shocking than ever."

"What did she write? Hurry up, Zabini! Don't drag!"

"Okay, from now you must promise me Ginny Weasley, that you would never tell a soul about this. Okay? Not a fucking soul."

"O-Okay. Not a fucking soul."

"I.. I don't know how to start.. but, it was um... it was a diary."

"A diary?"

"Yes. A diary. She wrote about herself. And she... she confessed there, in that tiny piece of parchment, that she loves Draco Malfoy."

* * *

The sounds of her heart beating loudly filled her ears. 'Thump. Thump. Thump.', they went. It was a steady yet erratical rhythm.

The soft wind played with her hair. Using her black hair band, Hermione pulled her hair up in a loose bun. She then closed her eyes and concentrated on her heartbeat again.

Thump. .

The lake was quiet, as usual. No one was around her and only the occasional sounds of leaves rustling filled the air. And the sound of her heartbeat. She was sitting under a large tree, the tree that Malfoy had been sitting under a few days prior.

Malfoy.

From what she had heard yesterday in Snape's office, he didn't hate her. No, he said he _loved_ her.

Malfoy loved her.

Hermione shook her head in disbelief, not being able to understand what she had heard the other day.

Malfoy _loved_ her.

But that didn't make sense. At all. Malfoy didn't love her. Malfoy _couldn't_ love her. Draco Malfoy had made her school days extremely miserable for five years by tormenting her, calling her names, and teasing her every chance he got. He hated her because she was a Gryffindor, best friends with Harry Potter, a know-it-all, but most of all he hated her because she was a Mudblood. And that wasn't something that she could overcome.

Hermione was mad. She was not mad at Draco Malfoy who proclaimed that he _loved_ her in front of Professor Snape. She was not mad at the situation that she had put herself in. But, she was mad at herself because right now, she wanted Malfoy to love her for real. And that was the only thing that she could ever wish for. Even after what had happened between them for the past few days: the angry screams, threatens, glares, Hermione couldn't stop thinking about him.

Hermione was mad.

'Damn it..' She thought to herself. While heaving a heavy sigh, she kicked at the dark leaves that were rolling around her feet.

Tears ran down her face.

Then, just then, Hermione heard someone walk towards her. She felt her own body stiffen at the sound of footsteps.

"Hermione?" The person behind her asked.

"How did you find me here?"

"I was looking for you."

"You didn't have to, Ginny. I'm... I'm perfectly fine."

"You don't _look_ fine, Hermione. You look... you look sad. All the time, these days." Ginny replied while putting on a sad smile along her lips. Her beautiful red hair swayed in the wind.

"I... It's okay. Nothing's wrong with me. Trust me, Gin." Hermione told her friend. But something inside her kept on telling herself that things were not right.

"Hermione..." Ginny started. She then reached out for Hermione's hand and held onto it. "It's okay, Hermione. I won't judge."

"Wh-What are you-"

"I.. I'm not that fond, you see. But, like I said, I won't judge. I'm not the one to judge at all. Do you know what I mean?"

"N-No." Hermione replied with a frown on her face.

"Malfoy." Ginny whispered. "You and Malfoy."

"W-What? There is no "me and Malfoy", G-Ginny." Hermione gasped in a breath and unconsciously withdrew her hand.

"Hermione, I understand. Okay? It's a good thing I realized quick enough. Imagine what Harry and Ron would say if they found out." Ginny smiled.

"What? No, Ginny. There is nothing for them to "find out". At all. A-And if there really _was_ something going on between us, even though I'm sure that there's nothing, I-I would tell my friends. They'd understand."

"Really, Hermione? Do you think _Ron_ of all people would understand if you fancied Malfoy?"

"F-Fancy... I don't fancy Malfoy!" Hermione blurted out, her cheeks burning. A sudden silence visited.

"I'm going out with Zabini." Ginny suddenly blurted out. "But don't tell anyone, alright? I just thought I had to tell you, because I know your secret. I can't imagine Ron knowing. God. He's my brother and all, but.. you know what I mean, right?"

Hermione had to laugh at that one. Letting out a low chuckle, she nodded her head and used her long purple sleeves to wipe her tears.

"Oh, Hermione. Don't cry because of that git. You'll be fine. He'll.. He will love you. I'm sure of that."

"I... I don't think so, Ginny. I doubt it."

"Just... hold on, alright?"

"Right. Hold on." Hermione replied with a weak smile.

"And don't think about that git too much. He'll come to you. Begging."

"Of course he will. But, thanks. Thank you for... telling me."

"I had to. You're my friend. I've got to go now, though. Sorry to leave you here alone, but well.. someone calls for my presence."

"Is it Zabini?"

"Yeah." Ginny replied sheepishly.

"Go along then. I'll see you later in the common room." While waving goodbye, Hermione turned her head and stared about at the lake.

The lake was peaceful.

As usual.

* * *

Draco walked up the spiral staircase of the Astronomy Tower. He couldn't smile.

Fuck.

He hated life.

He hated everything around him.

He hated school.

He hated people.

But, Granger was an exception. She made him smile. Even though Draco couldn't let it show.

* * *

"I can't believe you, Weasley."

"What? Why? I hardly think I did anything wrong! I was just... I just asked Hermione if she really _fancied_ Draco Malfoy."

"And why did you do that?"

"To... To make sure?"

"Of what? You didn't believe me?"

"No! I believed you, Blaise. I.."

"No, you didn't fucking believe me! If you did, why did you run over to that girl and-"

"I.. I couldn't see her like that, okay? She's miserable because of _him_! She's crying all the time, she doesn't eat, she.. she's my friend, Blaise and I couldn't see like that!"

"And you don't give a fuck about a promise that _we_ made?"

"No, I... I... I do care. About you."

"Whatever."

"No, Blaise. Really. I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"..."

"Blaise?"

"You shouldn't have done that, Gin."

"I shouldn't have. So.. you're not going to tell me the rest of what happened?"

"I... I can't tell this to you if you're going to.. go around telling everyone in the school about it."

"One by one, remember?"

"..."

"Please, Blaise. I'm.. I'm sorry that I asked Hermione. Please tell me what happened."

"I can't..."

"Why?"

"Because if you're trying to help Granger, it won't work."

"What are you talking about?

"She would be devastated."

"Pardon?"

"N-Nothing.. Just don't lift her hopes up of being together with Draco, alright?"

"Why-"

"I beg you. Please. Don't lift her hopes up."

"O-Okay Blaise. I won't."

"Thank you, love."

* * *

 **Think of this as a fill-up chapter. I'm sorry that it's short.. I had to cut it here because of chapter 6:)**

 **Thank you for elizabethrose1974 and Bronowyn for your lovely reviews!**


	6. Smaragdine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. And its characters. The only thing I own is the plot.**

 **Where Black and White Collide**

 **6\. Smaragdine**

 **...**

Hermione Granger walked along corridors later that evening. The sky was black, pitch black, as if a storm was coming. Hermione hated storms. She shivered and swiftly made her way towards the Gryffindor Tower.

It was 8 o'clock. Not a lot of students were around.

Hermione shivered once again and continued to walk.

Small droplets of rain splattered the high windows of the castle. Goosebumps ran down Hermione' spine. The more she walked, the hallway was becoming darker and darker and even though she had walked this very corridor so many times, she was frightened.

'It's okay, Hermione. There's nothing to be scared about some blasted storm.' She thought as she turned around a corner. 'Almost there.'

Just then, however, someone grabbed her by her body and yanked her with great force.

"Ow!" Hermione exclaimed as she fell down to the floor. She slowly opened her eyes. She was laying down on the floor, in some wretched dark corridor because of that someone who pulled her. "W-Who is it?" Hermione shouted out as she pulled out her wand that was inside her pocket. "S-Show your self!"

She quickly muttered a _Lumos_ and waved her wand around.

That was when she realized.

Malfoy.

He was standing there, in front of her with a huge frown on his face.

"Mal-Malfoy.." Hermione unconsciously took a step back. But the boy standing in front of her was much faster, as he took another step forward.

"Granger.. I-" He started to speak.

"Don't... Don't come close..to me." Hermione whispered as she took another step backwards. But Malfoy kept on coming closer and closer as she tried to keep their distance.

"Granger... I'm.. sorry.." He murmured.

"Wh-What?"

"I'm sorry... H-Hermione." He replied. Her name. He called her _Hermione_.

Hermione pointed her wand near Malfoy's face so that she would be able to see him. "I.. I don't know what I..I've been thinking." He then reached out to grab Hermione's hand. Even though she wanted him to embrace her hand, she wilted away from his touch.

"I... I'm so.. sorry." He said.

Malfoy was crying.

Vulnerable.

Weak.

Hermione had never seen him like this. He looked like a wilted flower that would break from a single blow of wind, its once beautiful petals all dried up and colorless. He looked so weak. Tears ran down his face. Even though he was much taller than herself, he had never looked this small.

"Wh-What.. are you talking about..?" Hermione carefully asked as she furrowed her eyebrows.

But sadly, by then, the boy had already left.

* * *

Draco ran up the spiral staircase of the Astronomy Tower once again, the next day.

"Can't believe it..." He murmured.

"I cried." A hollow laugh escaped his mouth. He shook his head in disbelief.

"I fucking cried..."

* * *

I don't know what to do.

Things aren't making sense at all right now. Everything that is happening seems to be going around in circles, escaping my reach. I can't think straight. I don't understand anything.

I don't understand why _he_ is acting so weird all of a sudden. I have no idea why _he_ finds me all the time, when I'm trying to spend some time alone. I don't know what is happening with Ginny.

I don't know.

But one thing is sure though: I can't stop thinking about him no matter what.

* * *

"Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed. She then ran a bit forward. The bright sunlight made her squint her eyes.

"Malfoy, please. Talk to me." She said again. It was extremely hard to follow him and catch up with his pace as he was much taller than her and was walking in a much faster speed. "We need to talk.. and you know it."

Finally, she caught his arm and stood in front of him.

She stared up at him with wide eyes. He stared back, with his eyes full of hurt and sorry. "Malfoy.. We.. We need to talk. About... A-About... you. And me." Hermione looked back down at her hand, her face suddenly burning up. With no specific reason why, her eyes welled up with tears. She didn't let them drop though.

Malfoy, the tall (and devastatingly handsome) boy in front of her then heaved a heavy sigh. Hermione was still looking down at her hands, but she knew that he was reaching out for... for her. His hands carefully rested on her face and he nudged her slowly so that she would meet his eyes. As she raised her head, the tears dropped.

Malfoy's finger traced her teardrop. He had that sorry look on his face again.

"M-Malfoy?" Hermione whimpered.

He nodded. Then, he took a small step back and put his hands inside his robe pockets. He was going to talk. With her. Hermione released a sigh of relief and started to walk, checking from time to time on whether Malfoy was following her or not. He was, indeed.

She walked for a few more minutes until she found the place that she wanted to go, with him. The tree.

It was the tree where they had fought, about the parchment. It was the tree where he had threatened her, and it was the tree that would bring about some bad memories, to both.

"Here?" Malfoy asked quietly.

"Y-Yes." Hermione responded awkwardly. "Under this fucking tree.." She then murmured under her breath. She could swear that Malfoy chuckled at that.

"About?" Malfoy then asked her after a few moments of silence.

"You." She replied.

"Me?"

"Y-You and me."

Malfoy rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"What was yesterday?" Hermione blurted out.

"You know Granger, that question that you just said out loud doesn't make any grammatical sense. At all. If you-"

"Oh shut up, you know bloody well what I'm talking about, Malfoy. Or do I have to word it out specifically for you and your fucking dumb brain?" Hermione shouted out, suddenly feeling her blood race through her body. Rage. Anger.

Malfoy frowned immediately at the change of the tone of her voice.

"Granger, what-"

"I guess you really are dumb. I'll just spell everything out for you then. Why did you cry in front me Malfoy? Why did you weep like a fucking little baby?" She exclaimed.

"I.. I can't tell you that, Granger."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"I can't tell you, Granger."

"No way, Malfoy. You're-"

"And I'm sorry." He quickly muttered. His cheeks had turned into a bright pink. "Don't make me say it again. I'm tired of apologizing to you every bloody fucking time we meet."

Hermione frowned and replied, "What... What are you sorry about, though?" He reached out again, for her. She didn't flinch.

Their hands met.

"About... e-everything, Granger." He intertwined their fingers.

Hermione knew. Hermione knew that "About everything" wasn't a great explanation. It was a horrible explanation, in fact, because it simply didn't explain anything. It didn't explain about why he couldn't tell her about what had happened the day prior, between them. It didn't explain why he suddenly cried in front of her. And it definitely didn't explain what he was sorry about. But, that was enough for her. That was certainly enough for Hermione Granger, because that was all she ever wanted.

Draco Malfoy saying sorry to her. For real.

Hermione then reached out slowly and gave him a hug. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her small body as well, and she had never felt safer.

Until, he suddenly jerked away though.

His eyes were full of disgust and he was glaring down at her like he did in the library. He was looking at her as if she was scum.

He was looking at her as if she wasn't human. As if she was an anomaly.

"G-Get the fuck away from me, you filthy M-Mudblood." He then screamed out and took another huge step back. Startled, Hermione just stared at the boy in front of her.

"M-Mudblood. What.. what are you doing, hugging _me_?" He asked, his voice filled with venom.

"What?" Hermione screamed. Rage overpowered her, again.

"T-This is your fucking problem, Malfoy! This is w-what I've wanted to ask you all the fucking time! Why! Why... Why, Malfoy, do you change like that all...all the time? One second, y-you're fucking hugging me, h...holding my hand, and you're even apologizing to me but then the next second, you- you're like... like that! What are you playing at Malfoy?"

"If you want to play nice, sure, play nice! If you want to be the damn bully like always, well I don't give a fuck at all! But... this? Wha... What is this, Malfoy!" Tears streamed down her face.

"Go on then. Now, you're playing the devil aren't you? You're just going to be the Malfoy that I've known- taunting me, glaring down at me, calling me a Mudblood-"

"D-Don't call yourself that." Malfoy then whispered quietly. He looked much calmer now and that disgust in his eyes were now gone.

"Wow, Malfoy. You do change quickly, now don't you? Because I believe that you were the one that called me a Mudblood just a fucking second ago. But what did you say to me right now? Don't call myself a Mudblood? Wow. Truly amazing Malfoy."

"Granger, I-"

"Fuck you." Hermione spat out and walked away, wiping the tears down streamed down her face.

Her heart teared down. Into a million pieces.

* * *

"Hermione!"

"G-Go, Ginny. I'm not.. not in the mood to talk right now."

"It's about him, isn't it."

"..."

"Come one, Hermione. You know you can tell me everything?"

"..."

"Hermione?"

"What... How did you and Blaise become... a thing, Ginny?"

"Um... That was an unexpected question... But, he.. he just... I don't know. He just told me that he likes me and I.. I did too. So... I guess that was it?"

"But, isn't he also the one who used to taunt us?"

"Hermione.. I think that the past is just the past. Sure, everyone makes mistakes. We all do. And you're not an exception, no matter how perfect you are. Blaise might have made a mistake about... being like that towards us, but-"

"What if Malfoy..."

"Yes, Hermione?"

"No... No, it's nothing Ginny."

* * *

 **I am extremely sorry for the delay. I had a few things that I had to do and things were reealllly running out of control, leaving me with no time to update. :( So sorry.**

 **Thank you for elizabethrose1974 for reviewing all the time and Ailac Malfoy also!**

 **Oh, to bigmommak: There might be a twist that you would like in the end;) (*wink_)**

 **THank you for reading, once again, and please reviews are always welcome.**


	7. Titian

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter at all, even though I do wish that I "own" Draco Malfoy. I do own the plot though.**

 **A/N: Finally!**

* * *

 **Where Black and White Collide**

 **7\. Titian**

 **...**

"I don't know what to do, Parkinson."

"And really, I don't know what to say to you Draco."

Hermione gulped and leaned in to listen to those voices that were heard in the library.

"I..." Malfoy muttered.

"Look, Draco. I-I'm telling you this as a friend of yours. _She_ , I mean, _her kind-"_

"There is no such thing as _her kind,_ Parkinson. She is a witch, a damn bright one to be exact, and you know that yourself." Hermione sucked in a breath as she clutched onto the books that she was holding tightly onto.

"It... It's hard to ignore everything that we've been taught from when we were young, Draco."

"Yes, it is hard, but you should know it yourself that I ignored everything. I don't give a damned fuck about all that blood prejudice shit."

"Shh, Draco. Someone might hear."

Malfoy snorted. "Whatever." He replied.

"So.. I was saying that.. it's impossible, Draco. You know it." Parkinson hesitated a bit. "A Gryffindor and a Slytherin? Really, Draco? If I wasn't your friend, I would have said that you were just damn crazy, but... well, you know it won't work."

"But what the fuck am I supposed-"

"Lower you voice, Draco!" Hermione could easily realize that Malfoy glared at Parkinson.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do.. when I... when I really like her? Th-That is not something that I can control now, is it?"

"Draco... Think about what you're father would say." Parkinson muttered. "Lucius. Think about how he would react when he finds out about...your emotions. You wouldn't be able to come back after the holidays. You'd have to spend your life in St. Mungo's." Parkinson scoffed at what she had said.

"I told you, Parkinson, I don't give a fuck."

"..." A heavy silence.

"S..She hates me." Malfoy whispered. Hermione clenched onto the books even more tightly as she tried her best to listen to what he was talking about. "She hates me so fucking much..."

"Sometimes, Parkinson, I want to get close. And... And sometimes I really can get close to her. B-But, but I'm scared... because I think that.. she would break.. b-because of me." His voice began to tremble. "I t-think that she.. would run off, scared, if I get too damn close. I'm scared..."

"Draco..."

"But... I get close to her anyways because.. my love towards her is much greater than my fear.. I.. held her hand, Parkinson." Hermione sucked in a breath again. Her brown hair fell to her sides. "And God, her hand was so... soft."

"I... held her hand.. and I wanted to cherish it.. but, that's when... that's when I realized that... she.. might hate... me even more. I.. I ran away."

"You-"

"I bet she thinks I'm... a psycho. That's what she said... She said that I'm acting all nice one second.. b-but, the next second, I-I'm that damned bully." Malfoy continued to talk. "A-And I want to keep acting nice, but.. you know I can't P-Parkinson.. I'm scared."

"Draco..."

"I... love her.. Too much."

Hermione couldn't take it.

She simply couldn't stay there, eavesdropping their conversation, about her.

She couldn't stay still as she listened to her crush admit his love for her.

She had to do something.

The next moment, she realized that she was standing in front of the two Slytherins.

"G-Granger?" Parkinson muttered, her face full of shock. But, Hermione's gaze was focused on Malfoy's and Malfoy's only.

Her gaze was focused on his beautiful, silver, almond-like eyes.

"Under the tree, in 5 minutes, Malfoy." Hermione whispered. Then she took off.

Something was hopeful.

She liked it.

* * *

"You're late, Malfoy."

"I-I'm sorry." Malfoy replied back while panting. Hermione didn't know what to say.

An awkward silence.

"Me?" Hermione asked Malfoy finally. Malfoy shuffled his feat and stared down at the ground.

"Were you talking about me, Malfoy?" She asked again, her voice much stronger this time. But Malfoy just kept on staring at the ground, without any emotion on his face.

"Malfoy.. Answer me."

Malfoy slowly raised his head, looked into her eyes, and nodded a yes.

He nodded.

He fucking nodded.

Hermione gasped in a breath, as she noticed the faint blush on Malfoy's cheeks.

"So...?" Hermione whispered.

"You know what you heard, Granger. I..I can't let you break. I have to keep my.. e-emotions to myself."

"Yourself?"

"I know you hate me, Granger, I know you do. So, I don't ask anything special. Just... please, let me leave..." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't get too close to y-you."

Hermione took a huge step forward. Malfoy flinched.

"I- I should go now, Granger."

"Wait, Malfoy!" Hermione shouted out as she reached out for his hands. Their hands, indeed, met right away. And this time, it was Hermione holding onto his hands.

"B-But I don't know you.. well enough..." Hermione muttered.

"And... I insist that we keep it.. t-this way, Granger." He shrugged at his arm but it wasn't strong enough. Hermione still held onto his hand, firmly.

"A chance." Hermione then blurted out suddenly.

"W-What?"

"All I... All I need is a chance, Malfoy. Just give me a week. A single week of friendship and you... can go back to ignoring me all you want." She said. "Seven days, Malfoy."

Hermione looked up at the pale boy in front of her, who was turning paler every second, and their eyes met instantly. Sparks flew.

"Please?" Hermione pleaded. "D-Draco?"

And that was it. As soon as his name, his first name, left her mouth Draco grasped her hand much tighter and while trying to control his breath, he nodded a yes.

"Yes?" Hermione asked.

"Y-Yes." Malfoy nodded again.

And that was how their fragile, yet beautiful friendship began.

* * *

"Hermione!" Ron shouted. "Where have you been?"

"I.. I just took a walk around the park, nothing special. Why?"

"I.. just think you disappear so much these days." Ron replied with a frown forming along his eyebrows. Harry, who was reading a book raised his head and joined in the conversation by sending her a look of agreement.

"N-No, Ron. I mean, where would I go anyway? The library, classes, and the dormitory." Hermione answered back, her heart racing.

"Yeah. Well.. Go to dinner with us together then, 'Mione?" Harry asked.

"Sure. Sure, let's." A smile.

* * *

"So... How did it go, Draco?"

"I.. I don't believe it."

"Believe what?"

"We.. We're friends."

"What?"

"At least for a week."

"Oh.. that... that's good, Draco. That's progress."

* * *

Dinner was wonderful. Maybe it was because Hermione was in a good mood or because the same food tasted better than usual, but yes, dinner was wonderful.

Hermione caught Draco (she decided to call him Draco, at least to herself) looking at her three times. He blushed all the same.

It was extremely weird and awkward to see Draco Malfoy _biush,_ but it was a beautiful sight indeed.

"Who are you smiling at, Hermione?" Ron suddenly blurted out, while holding onto a chicken leg.

"W-What?" Hermione quickly broke her gaze from the boy who was sitting at the Slytherin table and looked over at Ron. "I'm not smiling."

"Yes, you were." He replied back. "You had that interesting smile on your face that appears whenever.. whenever you spread your butter on your toast at breakfast. If you know what I'm talking about."

"I-I do not smile while buttering my toast, Ronald."

"You do, Hermione." Harry answered back. Ron shot her a look.

"It..It's nothing. Just thinking about.. stuff." Hermione said.

* * *

"She is very secretive these days, don't you think Harry?"

"That was exactly what I was going to tell you, Ron."

* * *

"Hermione!" A voice.

"Y-Yes?"

"You in there?" This was undoubtedly Ginny Weasley. Hermione sighed and put her diary away.

"Of course I'm in here, Ginny, I just answered!" She replied back.

"Oh, right. C-Can I go in?"

"Right now? I'm.. I'm in a bloody bathroom!"

"Well if you're not sitting on the toilet and if you're not in the shower, I'm just going to go in, so..."

"Gah! Fine, come in." Hermione answered as she swung the bathroom door wide open. Ginny was standing there, right in front of the door, with a bright smile.

"Good." Ginny said while closing the door.

"So what did you want to talk about in a bathroom, of all places?"

"Relax, Hermione. You know this is really the only place that the boys can't come in."

"Whatever. Shoot."

"So... I think Malfoy fancies you."

* * *

"Love, did you tell Granger about it?"

"Yes, I did. And I thank you so much for telling me that, Zabini. Hermione really needs.. that."

"I know, love. I know."

* * *

 **Hermione and Draco are friends now! Finally! I really wanted to write this part so much**

 **Okay, BUT let me tell you guys one thing.**

 **I have a tiny feeling that I might not be able to upload as often as before because of personal reasons... and so! I decided that I would post a new chapter once a week. I am extremely sorry, but... well... yeah.**

 **But, thank you for all of the wonderful and beautiful people out there who decided to take a sneak peek, this was chapter seven, reviews are always welcome.**

 **Thank you!**


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